Dutchess County executive outlines EMS funding aid plan

POUGHKEEPSIE — Sue Serino, Dutchess County Executive, announced a $2 million investment in emergency medical services before the release of the 2025 executive budget.

This funding will be used to support the launch of ambulance coverage, a public awareness campaign and to address the workforce shortage the county has been faced with recently.

The county plans on partnering with municipalities to set in motion the supplemental ambulance coverage program, hoping to improve emergency medical service reliability and response time with commercial providers. This program will not only provide relief to the county, but will also help keep medical service providers diverse with competitive costs. With more competition in the mix, companies and municipalities could potentially lower their service costs.

Dutchess County is also working on recruiting more staff and attracting job seekers to the field and implementing first responder resiliency training and peer-to-peer support network for the mental and emotional well-being of first responders.

Sue Serino has previously released an outline of the EMS crisis in March. She has met with the Department of Emergency Response, supervisors, mayors, municipality representatives and many other professionals to help her find effective solutions.

Though this will serve as a temporary aid, it will help the county find long term solutions for the EMS crisis many towns have been challenged with.